Hundreds arrested in EU in ‘violence-for-hire’ crackdown

Criminals recruit youths via social media and messaging platforms to carry out murders and assaults, Europol has said

A new European task force formed to crack down on “violence as a service” has made 280 arrests in its first year, the EU’s police agency, Europol, has said in a statement.

The unit, dubbed GRIMM, was formed last April to tackle the growing trend of outsourced violence, sometimes described “gig economy” terrorism, in which criminals hire individuals via social media to carry out acts ranging from assaults to murder. The task force involves police from several EU countries, alongside the UK, Norway, and Iceland.

”Violence is no longer confined to… local dynamics. It is increasingly offered as a service: accessible, scalable and driven by online ecosystems that enable recruitment, coordination, and execution across borders,” read the statement released on Wednesday. More than 1,400 people linked to these activities have been identified, it added.

”This phenomenon is spreading like a wildfire across Europe,” Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious Organized Crime Center, told Dutch TV programme Nieuwsuur.

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Recruitment mainly takes place via platforms such as Snapchat, Telegram, and TikTok, as well as gaming environments, Kraag said. Recent cases include teenagers as young as 14 recruited online to carry out shootings in Denmark and Sweden, as well as a Dutch suspect accused of acting as a getaway driver for two minors behind a series of explosions in Germany in 2025.

The report comes amid a push in Europe to restrict social media for minors due to growing concerns over mental health, online safety, and addictive platform design. France has passed an age-verification bill for under-15s, while Germany is debating a ban for under-14s. The UK is weighing restrictions for under-16s alongside limits on addictive features, and the European Parliament has backed a non-binding proposal for a bloc-wide minimum age of 16.

Messaging and gaming platforms have come under increasing scrutiny. Telegram, which has fewer than 45 million users in the EU, is facing a criminal investigation in France over alleged failures to curb illegal content, while Russian authorities have imposed restrictions on the service citing security concerns.

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Russia also blocked online gaming platform Roblox, citing distribution of illegal materials, including extremist content, and attempts by adults to contact minors inside Roblox’s chat features.